värre

Värre is a Swedish adjective and adverb meaning “more bad” or “worse,” used to express that something is more negative in quality or more severe than another thing. It is the standard comparative form and is commonly used with the word än to form comparisons, as in värre än.

As an adjective, värre can modify nouns to indicate a greater degree of negativity or severity. It is also used adverbially to describe the extent of a state or action: Det blev värre när det började regna. A common fixed phrase is Det kunde ha varit värre.

Väldigt often, värre is used in contexts where the outcome or situation is worsening, or in moral or emotional dimensions. For general quality, some speakers prefer sämre as the standard comparative of dålig, but värre remains common for negative outcomes, danger, or hardship, for example värre storm, värre väder, eller en värre situation.

Etymology and usage notes: värre originates from Swedish medieval usage as the comparative form of the adjective with negative meaning. It is typically contrasted with superlatives such as värst (the worst) or värsta (the most worst in attributive use). In practice, värre is versatile and widely understood in everyday language to denote a higher degree of negativity or hurtful impact.

See also: sämre, värst, värsta, ond.